BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check theBmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis.

The Julio Fine Arts Gallery at Loyola University Maryland presents Fractured Histories: Ancient Greek Pottery from Haverford’s Allen Collection. In 1989, Haverford College obtained a collection of Greek pottery from two alumni. Haverford student Jenna McKinley curated an exhibit of the pottery in 2014. She discovered that many of the twenty-five objects in the collection were obtained by the Allens from Robert Hecht, a Baltimore native and part of the Hecht Department Store family. Hecht was a well-known dealer of illicit antiquities and the main conduit for stolen pottery coming to the United States from Italy in the second half of the 20thcentury. Much about Greek lives, customs, rituals and beliefs is revealed in vase paintings. Stolen objects are not photographed and documented in situ, destroying needed context. Not only are issues regarding the rightful owners of looted works created, but issues of context as well.

All events free and open to the public; no registration required

<><><><><><><><><><><>Alia Malek: The Home That Was Our Country, A Memoir of SyriaWednesday, March 15th : 7:30pm

The Ivy Bookshop
6080 Falls Road : 21209

In The Home That Was Our Country, Alia Malek chronicles her return to her family home in Damascus at the Arab Spring’s hopeful start in 2011. She left to reclaim her grandmother’s apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parents’ decision to make their lives in America, and a central story during her Baltimore upbringing. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians and Kurds who worked, loved and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country. Restoring her family’s home as the country comes apart, she learns how to speak the coded language of oppression that exists in a dictatorship, while privately confronting her own fears about Syria’s future.

Alia Malek is a Syrian-American journalist and civil rights lawyer. She grew up in Baltimore and has degrees from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. In 2011, Alia moved to Damascus and wrote anonymously for several outlets, including The New York Times, about Syria’s disintegration.

The imposing deities on view in the special exhibition Ferocious Beauty are meant to help their followers overcome challenges. Following a brief tour of the exhibition, Allison Korycki of YogaWorks will hold a guided meditation session on the Sculpture Court. Participants are encouraged to bring their own yoga mat.

FREE to attend, registration required. Lecture begins at 6:00 pm followed by a reception.

This year’s Spring Lecture Series theme is Migration.

Migration is essential to human survival. Whether driven by the spirit of discovery or hope for a better life, whether forced by conflict or required for access to resources – massive change alters us in small ways and large. How do we adapt to these uncertainties in a mindful way? What are the predominant patterns we can learn from and look towards? Our four lectures explore conflict-driven migration, climate change migration, regional migration that crosses state lines and interplanetary migration to Mars. We hope that this assembled group of experts can help us appreciate how migration can be a uniting force.

Garrett Dash Nelson, Dartmouth CollegeGarrett Dash Nelson is a historical geographer and post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and Society of Fellows at Dartmouth College who is interested in the ways that social change and landscape change are intertwined. His work focuses on how human communities make choices about transforming and managing the shared places in which they live, and, in turn, how those same places structure the formation of communities, states, and social groups. In particular, He is interested in the many themes which come together in the field of planning—concerns about justice, equality, aesthetics, ecology, and administration—and how these are related to the spatial pattern of human life on the earth’s surface. In addition to explaining the historical formation of landscapes and societies, these lines of inquiry also help to frame contemporary questions about how to make decisions about people and places. In summer 2016, he completed a dissertation in geography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison entitled A Place Altogether: Planning and the Search for Unit Landscapes, 1816–1956. It explores the problem of what size geographic areas are appropriate for community planners to deal with when trying to encompass a total set of relationships that make up a “single” place.

This special fundraising night will feature dinner, drinks, performance, and our friend, Bert Crenca. Bert is the visionary artistic director and founder of AS220 in Providence, RI. Bert opened AS220 in 1985 “on the principle that freedom of expression is crucial for the development of strong communities and individual spirits.” Here in Baltimore we look to what Bert has created as a model for guiding the relationship between the arts, revitalization, and political action.

Join us on March 16th at Current Space (421 N. Howard) with Bert Crenca!
6 PM | Free public discussion with Bert Crenca and cocktail hour at

Viki Keating draws inspiration from vivid colors and textures found in nature and her surroundings in the colorful, fun glass objects she’s created for more than 30 years. She balances techniques that range from sand casting, kiln carving, or varying temperatures during firing, and transforms glass into works of lush and joyous works of art.

As the nation pauses amidst the bloom of another spring to celebrate, honor and recognize the contributions of women throughout our collective history, March is Women’s History Month, Gallery CA presents the work of artist, Espi Frazier. On view from March 17th through April 21, 2017, the exhibition is aptly titled Married to Art. M2A features a herstory of one woman’s journey as presented through her art, while creatively commenting on our society, culture and history.

Originally from Chicago and currently residing in Baltimore, Maryland, Frazier holds an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and a BFA from the renown Art Institute of Chicago. An artist and educator, Frazier is an Art Instructor at Friends School of Baltimore. Frazier represents the best of whom America is capable of producing. She is humble, conscious, courageous, creative and dedicated to art. “The show Married to Art is a fact of my life. I have been making art since age five. It has been a steady and dependable ground to stand on. Art has helped me through life’s unpredictable journey. Today, I am happy to say, I have not sought a divorce in 60 plus years. Art has been a lifelong wonderful marriage.”

From industrial waterfront to the city’s center of tourism and festivities, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor has seen remarkable transformations. This people’s history tour of the waterfront will include a discussion of past controversies and present challenges. Secret loading docks, coded brick patterns, environmental engineering, and forgotten monuments all reveal Baltimore’s hidden truths. Our guide, public artist and preservationist Graham Coreil-Allen, is known for including a few playful, participatory activities designed to highlight aspects of the harbor’s history and current use. Be prepared to learn a lot and have a little fun on this walking tour!

<><><><><><><><><><><>some new social portraits: Work by Benjamin Horns :: Opening ReceptionSaturday, March 18th : 6-9pm

Springsteen
502 West Franklin Street : 21201

Benjamin Horns is an artist currently based in Los Angeles. This will be his first solo exhibition with the gallery.

How can we share our work beyond our local community?
How have Baltimore artists found opportunities nationally and internationally?
What simple practices can help you find touring, exhibitions, teaching, and residencies that fits your work?

Rebecca Juliette is the Managing Editor and Administrator of Calls for Entries & the Calendar/ Weekly Picks. She has the heart of the artist and the brain of a librarian. The person who invites her to their party knows that by the end of night their record collection will be alphabetized by category. She studied music at Western Maryland College but somehow ended up with a science degree.

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May I use this quote on my FB page? I love what it says and if so, whom do I credit?
Migration is essential to human survival. Whether driven by the spirit of discovery or hope for a better life, whether forced by conflict or required for access to resources – massive change alters us in small ways and large.